Battle of Montijo
Kingdom of Portugal|combatant2= |commander1= Matias de Albuquerque| |commander2= Baron of Mollingen Marquis of Torrecusa |strength1= 6,000 infantry and 1,100 cavalry (6 guns)Ângelo Ribeiro p.59 |strength2= 4,000 infantry and 1,700 cavalry (2 guns)Real academia de la historia p.428 |casualties1= 3,000 dead and wounded or about 900 dead and capturedÂngelo Ribeiro, p.60 |casualties2= 433 dead 380 woundedValladares de Sotomayor p.188 or 3,000 dead and woundedClodfelter, ''...attempts to reconquer Portugal culminated in a counterattack by Portuguese General Mathias d'Albuquerque into Spain with French and English aid and his defeat of the Spanish at Montijo near Badajoz on May 26, 1644. Of 8.000 infantry and 2.500 cavalry engaged the Spanish lost 3,000 killed and wounded. p.43 }} The Battle of Montijo was fought on 26 May 1644, in Montijo, Spain, between Portuguese and Spanish forces. Although the battle ended with a Portuguese victory,George Henry Townsend, The manual of dates: a dictionary of reference to all the most important events in the history of mankind to be found in authentic records Routledge, Warne, & Routledge, (1862) , 1644.The Spaniards are defeated at the battle of Montijo. p.689Glenn Joseph Ames, Renascent empire?: the House of Braganza and the quest for stability in Portuguese monsoon Asia c.1640-1683 Amsterdam University Press (2000) ISBN 90-5356-382-2, The most notable Portuguese victories came at Montijo (1644) and Arronches (1653). p.23 the Spanish saw it as a strategic success as they claimed to have prevented Matias de Albuquerque from capturing Badajoz, despite Albuquerque having no intention of attacking the city.Ângelo Ribeiro, p.56, p.59Ericeira, p.51Santos, Selvagem, p.398 Background Portuguese General Matias de Albuquerque knew the Spanish were commanded by the Marquis of Torrecusa, a renowned military tactician, and wanted to affirm his own presence. He managed to gather 6,000 infantry, 1,100 cavalry and 6 cannons, in order to give battle. He crossed the frontier attacking, pillaging and burning Vilar del Rey, Puebla and Boca de Manfarete until reaching the town of Montijo who surrendered without a fight. Battle Not having encountered the Spanish army, Matias de Albuquerque decided to return to Alentejo. While on march, the Portuguese were confronted by a Spanish force from Torrecusa's army led by the Baron of Mollingen consisting of 4,000 infantry and 1,700 cavalry. On the 26th of May 1644 the two armies met not far from Montijo. The forces of Mollingen adopted a semi circle formation, which would permit a simultaneous attack on the Portuguese front and flanks. Matias de Albuquerque, marching in a slow pace towards Portugal, had prepared for a rear attack by placing the infantry in two defensive lines with the strongest formations in the rear, the baggage wagons in the vanguard and the cavalry split between the two flanks. The six cannons of the Portuguese initiated the hostilities, the Spanish side soon replied, but very ineffectively. The Spanish cavalry attacked the Portuguese left flank, routing the 150 Dutch cavalry commanded by Captain Piper.History of Portugal, p.292Ericeira, p.54 The panic spread to the rest of the cavalry on both flanks who abandoned the field through their own lines, taking refuge in woods near Xévora, leaving the infantry disorganized. Led by Mollingen himself, the Spanish cavalry easily opened a breach in the centre of the Portuguese positions, taking the Portuguese artillery. Thinking that the Battle was won, Mollingen troops scattered themselves without care on the field looting. Albuquerque's horse was killed and he was found fighting on foot by a French officer named Lamorlé (fighting for the Portuguese) who gave him his own horse. Taking advantage of the Spanish lack of reserves and dispersion, Matias de Albuquerque and his officers rallied some of the scattered troops and quickly retook the Portuguese artillery. D. João da Costa, a Portuguese artillery officer, efficiently used the artillery to stop the Spanish forces from regrouping.Edward McMurdo, p.392 The rallied Portuguese troops took back the field,Erica Wagner-Pacifici p.62Disney p.226 and drove the Spaniards across the Guadiana inflicting heavy losses.Edward McMurdo, ... and in accord with the general commanding the artillery, D.João da Costa, cast themselves upon the Spaniards, who had become dispersed as though they had buried the enemy; and, driving all before them, without giving them time to recover themselves, compel them to cross the Guadiana. p.392H.V.Livermore, Albuquerque rallied his men and drove the Spanish troops across the Guadiana with heavy losses. p.179History of Portugal, ... Matias de Albuquerque rallied part of his troops, took advantage of the slackening of the enemy, recovered the cannon and drove the Spaniards back over the Guadiana river, with a loss, according to Ericeira, of over three thousand. p.292 Aftermath On the following day the Portuguese troops returned to Campo Maior. Both sides claimed victory, as well as having caused high casualties to each other. When news of the victory achieved by Albuquerque reached King John IV of Portugal he awarded the general with the title of Count of Alegrete.Edward McMurdo, When news of the victory attained by Mathias de Albuquerque reached D.João IV, he rewarded the general with the title of Count of Alegrete. p.392 Madrid, as well as Lisbon rejoiced with news of the battle that had great repercussion in the European courts.Ângelo Ribeiro p.60Edward McMurdo p.392 In Culture The Spanish playwrights Pedro Francisco Lamini and Sr. Durán composed respectively the comedy El más valiente Extremeño, Bernardo del Montijo, el segundo Don Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar and the poem in his collection Romances vulgares de valentías, guapezas y desafueros in honor to the Battle.Díaz y Pérez p.93 The Portuguese João Soares da Gama also did it in his Batalha do Montijo. Bibliography *Tony Jaques, Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: F-O. Greenwood Publishing Group, (2007) ISBN 0-313-33538-9 *Stanley Sandler, Ground warfare: an international encyclopedia, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO, (2007) ISBN 1-57607-344-0 *Micheal Clodfelter: Warfare and armed conflicts: a statistical reference to casualty and other figures, 1500-2000. McFarland, (2002) ISBN 978-0-7864-1204-4 *Edmund Wright,Thomas Edmund Farnsworth Wright: A Dictionary of World History. Oxford University Press, (2006) ISBN 0-19-920247-8 *Luis de Menezes Ericeira (conde da), Historia de Portugal restaurado: 1643-1656 (1751) *Benjamin Vincent, A Dictionary of Biography - Past and Present - Containing the Chief Events in the Lives of Eminent Persons of all Ages and Nations. Preceded by the Biographies and Genealogies of the Chief Representatives of the Royal Houses of the World. READ BOOKS, (2008) ISBN 978-1-4437-3455-4 *Carlos Afonso dos Santos, Carlos Selvagem, Portugal militar. Imprensa Nacional, (1931) *H. V. Livermore: A new History of Portugal. Cambridge University Press Archive, (1976) ISBN 0-521-29103-8 *''The Encyclopædia Britannica, or Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General Literature: Pla - Rei, Volume 18'' (1859). *''History of Portugal: pamphlet collection'' CUP Archive, (197?). ISBN 1-00-128780-0 *Miguel Artola: Enciclopedia de Historia de España: Diccionario temático. Alianza Ed. (2007) ISBN 978-84-206-5241-2 *Juan Contreras y López de Ayala Lozoya (marqués de): Historia de España: La "Edad Antigua" Americana a la política exterior de Felipe IV. Salvat Editores (1968). *Eduardo Ibarra y Rodríguez: España Bajo los Austrias. Editorial Labor. (1979) ISBN 978-84-335-2206-1 *Enrique García Hernán, Davide Maffi: Guerra y Sociedad en la Monarquía Hispánica: política, estrategia y cultura en la Europa Moderna, 1500–1700, Volume 1. Laberinto. (2006) ISBN 978-84-8483-224-9 *Virginia Military Institute, George C. Marshall Foundation, American Military Institute: The Journal of Military History, Volume 71,Issues 1-2. American Military Institute (2007). *Jordi Ventura i Subirats: Historia de España: Desde los Reyes Católicos hasta Carlos, Volume 3. Plaza y Janés. (1976) ISBN 978-84-01-60543-7 *Real Academia de la Historia, Memorial histórico Espãnol: Memorial histórico español: coleccion de documentos, opúsculos y antigüedades. Real Academia de la Historia (1865). *Antonio Valladares de Sotomayor: Semanario erudito que comprehende varias obras ineditas, criticas, morales, instructivas, políticas, históricas, satíricas, y jocosas de nuestros mejores autores antiguos y modernos, Volume 33. Blas Román (1790). *Disney A. R A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire: From Beginnings to 1807 (Volume 1) Cambridge University Press; 1st edition (2009) ISBN 0-521-60397-8 *Ângelo Ribeiro: História de Portugal: A Restauração da Independência-O Início da Dinastia de Bragança (2004) ISBN 989-554-110-4 *Cathal J. Nolan: The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650: an encyclopedia of global warfare and civilization (2006). ISBN 0-313-33733-0 *Edward McMurdo:The History of Portugal - From the Reign of D. Joao II. to the Reign of D. Joao V. - Volume III., Volume 3 (2010). *David Eggenberger: An encyclopedia of Battles: accounts of over 1,560 battles from 1479 B.C. to the present. (1985) ISBN 0-486-24913-1 *Robin Erica Wagner-Pacifici: The art of surrender: decomposing sovereignty at conflict's end. University of Chicago Press. (2005) ISBN 978-0-226-86979-7 *Modesto Lafuente: Historia general de España, Volume 16. Establecimiento Tipográfico de Mellado (1856). *Nicolás Díaz y Pérez: Historia de Talavera la Real: villa de la provincia de Badajoz. Editorial MAXTOR. (2005) ISBN 978-84-9761-208-1 Notes External links * [http://www.reocities.com/aow1617/Montijo.html The Battle of Montijo 26 May 1644 Spanish Victory (Tactical).] Spanish Tercios from 1525 to 1704. Montijo Montijo Category:Conflicts in 1644 Category:17th century in Spain Category:1644 in Europe Category:1644 in Spain Category:Battles of the Portuguese Restoration War